Sturgis advertiser. (Sturgis, Dakota [S.D.]) 1887-1???, 1887-10-19
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FOR THE FARMER.
Inc lsest GnAaterlall for b Mulch and the
AIvahtaees Tllat are Derived
0uantlty of Milk Required for Butter-.
Caro- Of Colts-Canada ThistIes
In Meadows.
VALUE OF aluIcnfNa.

Il 10A n-StiLihS, pedI, gEaVcI, SAND, Goa
screenings, or farna-yard manure. Ii
may in fact be che upper layer of the
i soil, That Is kept from the part in
which roots extsHd.by frequent soak.
ing, or by disturbing it in any manner
50 that plants will not grow on it.
Trees growing in forest or in other
sheltered places afford material for
mulching the soil in the form of leaves.
Most kind of bushes, tall grasses, and
clover also furnish material for mulch
+ ing the ground where they grow. II
is likely that the idea of forming an
artificial mulch was a hint from nature.
Mulching is practiced much more than
IT was a few years ago, and it is likely
that it will receive much more atten-
ton than it does at present. In eli.
mate. as variable as ours q mulch Is OF
value 10 piants!in the winter as during
the summer. It has,been found to be
valuable in the flower and vegetable
garden as in the orchard, vineyard
and field.
At first a mulch was only used over
the roots of small and newly-set trees,
bushes and grapcvinos;5 now it is alb.
piled to fields where fall-sown grains
are raised. During hot and dry sum-
mers, like the present one, mulch
has been employed to excellent advan-
tage on ground devoted to potatoes.
Not few market gardeners use mats,
sort OF movable mulch, for laying
over plant-beds at night, some being
taken up every morning. Many have
found that mulch is desirable for
fruit trees and bushes that produce
berries in all stages of their growth.
1t has also been asccrtained that a
mulch IS highly beneficial to bearing
grapevines. What is known as, a ma
unreal mulch is prepared for grape
vines, fruit trees and bushes that pro-
duce flowers and berries. 1t generally
consists of coarse manure, that is not
rank like hog dung. It. serves the
purpose of alamechanical mulch the
first season it is applied, but during
this time it ferments and rots, and, by
SO doing becomes a most excellent fer
tilizer. HI as e
A scientific authority on the use of
mulch gives them rs follows: Conser-
walton of the food, water, and heat of
the ground, and consequent safeguard
ing it against the extremes of cold and
drought. The most perfunctory OBJ
server of the effect of sun, frost, wind,
or air in motion in direct contact with
the surface filth of the soil can. not fail
to have Noticed how rapidly food and
water and heat are dissipated by the
action OF the sun, air and wind on the
surface. Each thirsty sunbeam, every
molecule of air, and every frost loos-
OF 1s nj Ia;
the surface. Now, just as clothing,
especially of wooden fabrics, conserves
the Warmth of our bodies, so does the
mechanical texture of surface mulches
conserve the heat, moisture and food
of the ground. The mulch penetrable
to the warmth of the sunshine would
prove no barrier to the free passage
and copious loss of vapor or food.
Hence it follows that the great use of
mechanical mulches is that they tend
to strike mean between extremes of
temperature and plethora or scarcity
of food and water. In word, they
keep the roots warmer in winter and
cooler in summer, and help to supply
them with abundant daily supplies of
food and water without subiecting
them to alternate fits of famine and
plethora. They even do more. than
this. They go very far, indeed, to-
ward renderingia water famine at the
roots impossible. The surface mulch
prevents waste from surface washing,
greatly enlarges the storing capacity
of the soil, extends the area Of supply,
and delivers the water where il is
most needed. Thus, the surface mulch
proves itself most frugal admins
uratQrsofs our rainfall. "a, But it also re-
calls thetwater after it has left the sur
face. Al mere mulch, p even of cold,
hard, utterly sterile stone, gravel,
sand, coal ashes, or sawdust, sets
series of infinitesimal pumps, capil-
laries. or hair-like tubes in motion that
bring water to the surface from the
vast depths of the earth to supply the
wants of the growing roots.
A mulch should not be SO firm and
solid as to s'shed rain" 1t should be
sufficiently porous to allow rain to
readily pass through it. In grape
vines, fruit trees, rose bushes, most
kinds of towering shrubs, currant and
gooseberry bushes, there is no better
mulching material than coarse BARN
yardamanureasIn fruit and ornament
al trees, old hay, straw, muck, or for
est trees are preferable. Sawdust and
spent tanbark may also be used to
good advantage, but they are rarely
obtainable ION farms located in the
prairie regions. In mulching ground
occupied by strawberry vines there is
nothing better than freshly-cut fine
grass. 1t contains no seed to germin-
ate in the soil, is soiclcan thatit will
not soil the berries or the clothes of
pickers, and forms so close mat that
twill not blow away. Having served
its purpose during one growing sea-
son, it will decay and can be incorpor-
ated with the soil when the ground is
worked in the spring.
QUANTITY OF MILK REQUIRED FOR
BUTTER.
How much milk is required to make
one pound of butter depends upon so
many circumstances as to render it
Observation-Disclosures upon any GER
tain ssuaAtity as the proper proportion.
No twp breeds of cattle possess the
same qualifications, and there is no
herd Of one breed made up of cows
alike Din capacity for either milk or but
ter. Milk is d variable substance, and
event. when some particular cow may
be selected for experiment. in thespro-
duotion ofmilk aud batter she will
fail to give uniform quantity of milk
of the same quality from one day TO
n rxtf~ = q Al